February 11
Stuffed Peppers

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- Sausage and Risotto Stuffed Peppers [View Recipe]
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Ingredients
- .5 tablespoon oil
- 2 links sausage
- 2 cups [object Object] (defrosted)
- 2.5 cups sauce (defrosted, divided)
- 3 large bell peppers (cleaned)
- salt & pepper
- .5 pound pasta
Instructions
We start by heating our Dutch oven over medium heat with the oil. We chop our sausage and add it to the hot oil. We brown it on all sides, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. We add the mushroom risotto and 2 tablespoons of the tomato sauce and stir to combine. We dump this mixture into a large bowl. We lower the heat on our Dutch oven to low and add the rest of the tomato sauce, scraping up the browned bits.
We cut the tops off the green and red peppers and then cut each in half, removing the seeds and ribs. We divide the stuffing mixture between the 6 halves of peppers.
We raise the temperature on our tomato sauce and add the stuffed peppers. The peppers just fit and the sauce covers three quarters of each pepper - just enough so they can braise. When the sauce is bubbling around the peppers, we cover, and reduce the heat again. We cook for an hour, checking every 20 minutes or so that the sauce is simmering and the peppers are getting tender.
About half an hour before the peppers are ready, we put a large pot of water on the stove over high heat to cook the pasta.
When the peppers are almost ready, we add the dried pasta to the boiling water, with a good pinch of salt, and stir. We cook according to the package directions, tasting towards the end so the pasta is just al dente. We drain in a colander, reserving ΒΌ cup of the pasta cooking liquid.
We remove the stuffed peppers to a platter, add the reserved pasta water to thin the sauce a bit, and re-season the sauce. We combine with 3 cups of the cooked pasta (the rest is for the children) and serve with the peppers.
- French Baguette
In addition to (and partly due to) being quite pregnant ("I'm not that big!"), Robin took quite a spill today on her way to pick our daughter up from school. She was so drenched when she and our son arrived in the lobby, several people fretted that her water had broken.
A slightly bruised bottom and ego do not prevent the preparation of tonight's meal, which fed the whole family. The pasta on the menu also made it onto the kids plates, though they preferred their sauce plain.
It has been many years since Robin has attempted stuffed peppers. When we were vegetarians, she made Middle-Eastern inspired peppers, but tonight we go the Italian route. The stuffed peppers were so good that even a notorious pepper dis-liker such as Chris enjoyed the meal.